Endless Sky
by Avid Nerd LVL 99
Summary: A willing exile, what it was supposed to be. Waiting for the signal to return home when they were needed once more. It never came. Tired of wasting away on a world not his own. Naruto attempts to return, only to fail. This story is the first planned in a series of arcs and continuations. Dependent of course on its reception.
1. Prologue

**A.N. Welcome and enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I only own the very expensive computer this was written on. If I owned the franchises I was borrowing from, I'd have a far more expensive hobby than writing "fan"-fiction.

* * *

"Hello" - speech

_"__Goodbye"_ \- thought

"**We will meet again one day**" – Tailed Beasts

* * *

The grand sky declared the mornings arrival with a proclamation of vivid azure hues upon a horizon littered with gold. Mother nature awoke gently, embracing the forest clearing below with a tender mist. A calming breeze caressed the land as the first shadows of the day traced across dewy grass and scattered leaves. The delicately rustling branches of Pine and Oak swaying as the wind swept over the woodlands.

Yet silence.

"Aaaaaah-choo!"

_…_

_Sniffle._

**"…****Bless you."**

"Thanks, how's our project coming?"

**"****Stop playing these games. It was ready yesterday and the day before that."**

"Heh, think that I'll finally get off my ass and do what needs to be done?"

The wooden stump was worn down, aged with moss and rot, yet still supported the figures weight. They were gaunt with limbs wiry making the crude chairs task simple. Wrapped in what seemed like tattered rags, the dyes having bled out leaving the cloth a polluted smear of white and gray. Beneath the remnants of fabric, the man was bare. All his additional clothes, with the passing of time, had decayed into oblivion. This was only a testament left to the craftsmanship that had gone into the remains of a once proudly worn cloak.

It was surviving as he was.

If just barely.

Just like him.

* * *

They had called her a failure, an experiment.

Yet HER kingdom was thriving.

The entire southern quarter of the world that she had wrested from that horrible organization, it had been nearly two years since her conquest of these lands.

Visible scars from the battles still blemished certain areas where the fighting had been the fiercest.

At first progress had been slow, achieving her freedom and obtaining this empire had left terror entrenched into the minds of all who knew or heard. With time though, while at first humanity feared to tread to close, nature had recovered and reclaimed what had been lost as it always would.

Now the southern lands, with its magnificent forests and other natural resources, was far too tempting a pandoras box to leave unopened. It had started with a leisurely trickle; a few logging camps had appeared within the first few months. These brought small families looking for opportunities, these families would gather to build quaint villages. The need for food created farms which begot the need for trade hubs, small townships sprung up, and these had continued attracting more settlers.

Like moths to flame they challenged and confronted a plethora of calamities that could befall them. To even attempt travelling the few roads that lead into her territory towards the largest of the settlements could prove lethal. These lands were bountiful yes, but also filled with abundant dangers.

Bandits.

Monsters.

Her.

Yet they still came.

It was all hers.

Every soul that wandered these lands belonged to her!

* * *

Naruto lazily glanced down to his left from his seat, his head lolling to the side as dead cerulean eyes absorbed the countenance of the sole other occupant of this world.

"How long has it been Kurama?"

Immortal, he may have become. How, neither Kurama or himself could figure out. They assumed that his obscenely high chakra levels coupled with the symbiotic relationship he had with Kurama, on top of his naturally long lived Uzumaki genetics, just happened to be the trifecta required to unlock infinite life. He needed not food or even water. Death from starvation had scared him long ago. Those fears had been unfounded, for he remained. On the same stump he had stubbornly sat upon waiting for his comrades to signal him to return.

What others had chased and dreamed of he had been gifted with.

It was a curse.

For all his strength and techniques, there was one foe that could and would eventually defeat him.

**"****Six thousand three hundred eighty-seven years two hundred forty-nine days and we're going on fifty-one minu-"**

Time.

Now he almost found himself wanting, lusting for that bittersweet darkness to embrace him.

The company provided to him by his lifelong companion was the only driving force to his existence now.

The other who had joined Kurama and Naruto in this volunteered exile had long ago perished.

He understood loss.

Loneliness.

He would not abandon Kurama, to this desolate yet beautiful world.

* * *

Her keen eyes tracked movement many miles away. Far below the cliff face she sat perched upon, her legs kicking freely in the crimson folds of the dress she wore, she spotted food. There about ten miles west, right next to that river she enjoyed bathing in. Her face lit up with glee, while the voice she spoke in was like a velvet rope, smooth and seductive, gentle to the ears, and promising figments of imagination.

"A snack sounds wondrous."

She purred out the words and with a gentle shove she sent herself off the edge of the cliff. She reveled in the feeling of the wind as she soared downwards towards the forests below. Her long chocolate hued tresses billowing in her wake and her dress flapping wildly against her naked skin, she descended closer and closer to the ground. Spreading out her arms she laughed raucously as the wind whistled in her ears.

It was demented, rough, and laced with insanity.

She landed on all fours with a cat like grace. Before vanishing into the forest, intent on sating the hunger blazing within her soul. Branches broke from trees as she passed her speed was so great, beasts fled in terror the blood lust she exuded was so fierce.

"I am so very hungry."

Rough and cruel, the tone she now spoke in carried nothing but malice. Promising unfathomable terrors.

Like a noose made of velvet.

* * *

So, they had come up with a strategy to leave. However, executing the final step had a very large and unsolvable problem. It was a fifty bordering on sixty-five percent chance of failure. Not that it would stop him from making the attempt.

Both Kurama and he had checked, again and again. Millions of times they had checked the seal array, that lay barely five feet to the right of the stump he sat upon. A roughly shaped circle of earth, no wider than he was tall, held another smaller perfect circle. This area was filled so full of seals and inscriptions that it appeared as nothing more than a black dot painted on the ground.

It would work, of that they were sure. They did not need to fear death during transport, or anything really. He had had a long time to practice and learn. Experimenting with things that delved into godly realms. All this specific seal would do is teleport them instantaneously towards the nearest planet with powerful sources of energy that were similar or identical to chakra.

He had thought this over many times.

This exile had lasted through generations, hundreds of generations of shinobi life. There was a chance however small that his people had been wiped out entirely, or that nobody currently alive on his world had the chakra capacity required to activate the mechanism to call him back.

This was the risk he faced.

It may not be his world that he is transported too.

**"-also Naruto, you look like shit. I respect your wish to honor the agreement you made millennia ago. I know how much you like your promises. HOWEV-"**

_'__And this is why he's such a good friend, every day he calls me out on my bullshit.'_ Naruto thought while still looking over at the miniaturized form of Kurama.

After the first few thousand years, he had as a side project worked out a way to release his friend. Not fully, that would possibly kill him. Even with his supposed immortality, destroying the seal that bound Kurama's soul and power would most likely anger the Shinigami. Even he hesitated to forcefully destroy what in seals was a contract with a God.

Kurama had refused to do anything that could possibly result in Naruto's death.

The pair had scoured every bit of knowledge on seals and their workings they had. Between all the guess work and established facts, they had eventually figured out that by overlapping the seal that contained the nine tailed fox on Naruto's stomach with a decoy seal that held a portion of Kurama's volatile chakra. Which had been sealed while Naruto was in the initial jinchuriki form. They could trick the Eight Trigrams Seal into believing that Kurama was attempting to escape and as it attempted to draw the chakra back into itself. The seal would weaken just slightly, it could not draw in the excess unpurified chakra of Kurama without loosening its hold on what it already contained. This loosening would allow a small excess, about of tails worth of chakra which is around what had been sealed into the decoy, out. All this formed a loophole that because Kurama's chakra was technically both his body and soul anywhere his chakra existed he could theoretically have a physical body.

That tail worth of chakra had luckily been just enough, allowing Kurama to transport his consciousness to the mass of chakra. Naruto, being so powerful in his own right was able to deal with the volatile out of control energies still left in the seal with little to no problem.

Although neither of them could state that they knew for sure what would happen if they removed the decoy.

Kurama had been elated, having long ago understood that the only known way for him to leave was through Naruto's death. A price he was unwilling to pay, Kurama had vocally argued about how he could deal with his physical form being.

Tiny.

Although even after this, Naruto had still been prepared to give a full release a try.

The beating given to him for proposing such an idea, granted Naruto extra clarity on how highly Kurama thought of him.

Even as the no larger than Akamaru as a puppy nine tailed fox was kicking his ass.

Shaking his head and clearing his thoughts of the reminiscing, the first real smile broke out across Naruto's visage in ages. The act of smiling caused Kurama to send him a contemplative look before the fox broke out into a full grin full of sharp teeth and fangs.

**"****You are finally ready."**

It was a statement that held a finality stronger than diamond.

Naruto nodded his head, smile still beaming as he stood for the first time in two days. His bones creaked and groaned, his back made small popping noises from disuse as he stood to his full height. Extending his closed right hand out towards Kurama in a fist, Naruto chuckled as the fox bounced up onto his hind legs and stretched out a paw, connecting with Naruto's fist the pair smiled at each other.

They had already moved to the edges of the seal array. Naruto stared at the most complex seal he had ever heard of or seen, long and hard. The fear was back, of what may happen once it was used. He bit down on his lower lip, he had been in this exact spot many times before. He closed his eyes breaking the deadlock his stare had formed with the seal. Kneeling he placed his hands onto two circles within the array, one near the top and one near the middle.

The Keys.

He had never made it this far.

Kurama's eyes were upon him, a solemn look in his fiery dusky orbs. A small nod of his muzzle and Naruto knew what needed to be done, there was to be no more procrastination.

_"__This will possibly be the ultimate test of my luck." _The wry thought brought a short chuckle as he began gathering nature chakra, the seal required an exorbitant amount to power.

Once started it was a one-way ticket.

He had gathered enough natural chakra in addition to what he was supplying with his own to power the array. He took a deep breath then whispered the name of the seal as he moved his hands.

"Shīru kassei-ka: Mugen no Sora"

The Keys followed the movement of his palms. His right hand guided the top until they ended up near the bottom, while his left moved between the center of the array and the left just inside the outer edge.

The words were followed by silence.

Then a deafening boom as their consciously perceived reality vanished, all that suddenly existed was the light that exploded from the seal like a star before infinite darkness claimed their vision. Suddenly a dazzling display of colors and strobes that ended just as abruptly as they started.

He felt the wind, could smell the fresh waters of the rivers and lakes. The rough prickling sensation of grass curtailed by a cooling sensation, remnants and dew from recent rain.

The seal had worked.

He closed his eyes and spread out his senses, entering sage mode.

Now to figure out if he was home.

* * *

The entirety of the world felt the entry.

Millions of heads turned from north, east, and west.

All focusing on the southern lands.

On a certain face to the west a mischievous smile graced delicate features.

In the north a sword halted its decent mid swing.

To the east an entire generation froze in place, their tasks forgotten.

In the south she came to a complete and sudden stop, the ground below her cratering from the power behind the abrupt deceleration.

"Who dares?"

She snarled out loud with a sadistic gleam entering her eyes. Her features becoming warped as she released a portion her powers as a natural response to her outrage.

"Who dares to trespass into my domain!?"

The scream tore from her throat with a bestial fury.

Food forgotten she bodily turned around, her emerald eyes searching for something far beyond the grove of trees that surrounded her. Although not physically able to find this trespasser, she could feel him.

Yes, him.

"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!"

The angered screech tapered off as logic suddenly gripped her. NO ONE would dare trespass into her realm without an army. Of her strength she was prideful yes, however for as powerful as she was this could be bait. She knew of few that could cause such a commotion with their mere presence, and as she spread out her senses towards the source.

She became fully aware that she did not recognize this man.

In the flurry of thoughts that passed through her mind like bolts of lightning. Four stood at the pinnacle and proceeded to force themselves to the forefront of her conscious.

_"__A possible ally instead maybe."_

Casually brushing her hair from her eyes, she smiled beatifically.

_"__The strength I'm feeling from him isn't that strong after all." _

She raked her fingers through her hair attempting to remove some of the foliage that had become ensnared during her travel from the cliffs. It would not do for a queen to appear haggard or unsightly, especially in front of a visitor to her lands.

_"__Close to mine but still less."_

Patting out the last few wrinkles from her dress the woman began a leisurely walk in the direction she sensed all that energy had come from. There was no need to rush, this new player was in her territory after all. The fact that she could sense him also told her many things.

He had no idea what he was doing, being the main one.

Because everybody knew that she ruled the south.

"_After all. The others have them, an empress like me also deserves a servant."_

He would kneel before her or perish.

* * *

**"****I have found the closest group."**

Moisture listlessly formed welling up in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall.

He felt them, all of them. Entering Sage mode and stretching his sense out across the world he could feel everything.

"I have as well."

He knew the risks Kurama and he were taking when they activated the seal array.

This energy was not chakra, it was similar but was most definitely not. It felt polluted, dirty, like something fabricated by an outside source.

Even nature here seemed to scream in agony.

** "****I am sorry Naruto."**

No matter how well thought out the seals were, without the ocular abilities granted by a fully matured Sharingan eye.

It had still been a matter of roulette.

They both knew this could happen.

"Me to Kurama."

The array had worked.

Yet still managed to fail.

**"****Let us move towards the nearest small source first, there are a few immense sources of what feels like corrupted chakra around the world. However, figuring out where we are comes first."**

Letting sage mode dissipate from his body, Naruto nodded in agreement as Kurama leapt up onto his shoulder. His cerulean blue eyes filled with grit as he wiped away the few tears that had spilt. With a somber tone he replied to his life long friend and only ally in this unknown world.

"Agreed."

**End of Prologue**

**A.N. If you know where he ended up congratulations. Please try and keep it to yourself until the next few chapters come out. Though I do expect quite a few to figure it out, there's a lot of blatant hints up there. I'll be honest when I say that I am taking a bit of creative leeway with certain events in this story. Trying to keep it somewhat cannon to where he ends up but it's hard to find info on certain things.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A.N. Yay, a review.**

**Here we go.**

* * *

"Hello" - speech

_'__Goodbye'_ \- thought

"**We will meet again one day**" – Tailed beasts

* * *

_"__It wasn't meant to be like this Sasuke…"_

_Atop the Hokage Monument Naruto; Nanadaime Hokage, the Konohagakure no Eiyū, sat on a short wooden bench in his formal robes and hat. The varnished wood of the backless stool softly glowed in the last light of the setting sun. Besides him a table, smaller in stature than what would be considered ideal for anything but the massive bottle of sake resting on its surface. The bottle itself being well over twice the piece of furniture's height and almost as thick in width._

_Past the table an identical bench, upon it dressed in a simple dark blue hakama, with its voluminous folds softly swaying in the evenings slowing chilling breeze._

_Was the one and only Uchiha Sasuke._

_His shadow, and his most trusted confidant._

_The sake that passed through Naruto's lips burned as it sank deep into his gut. Although mostly for show, it would eventually get him drunk. Reaching up for the brim of his hat he adjusted it ever so slightly so he could peer behind where he and Sasuke lounged. _

_'__But best of all drinking buddy!'_

_That's where the empties were._

_"__You're being impatient Dobe,"_

_A pause as the sharingan wielder also downed his glass._

_"__Some things never change."_

_'__Oh that's…'_

_That was more than enough bottles, ten or so, yes most assuredly enough._

_It also explained why such a ludicrous idea blossomed within his mind._

_"__Hey Sasuke."_

_The tone was so conspiratorial that the raven-haired man set his glass down while turning to face Naruto fully, pulling his gaze away from the setting sun on the horizon. He countered the verbal query with a countenance bursting with suspicion, most prominent in the form of Sasuke's obsidian shaded eyes._

_"__What is it?"_

_"__So, I've got this idea…"_

* * *

Something was, off.

She could not feel his presence anymore.

Like a star going nova his entrance into the game was broadcasted. For a presence so strong that it could be said to nearly rival her.

No, this was all wrong.

For it to vanish with nary a trace was most foreboding indeed. Especially when she had not sensed anyone or anything nearby that could have possibly extinguished such a being.

Terribly wrong.

_'__What? Where? How?'_

The agitation caused her delicate features framed by auburn bangs set over thin brows to become feral. Her canines elongated announcing themselves to the world as they peaked out from full cherry hued lips. Emerald eyes bled into a vicious crimson as the pupils thinned out into narrow slits, the veins along her skin over her temples bulged as she tapped into the source of her powers.

A miniscule amount but just enough to sharpen her senses even further than what they already were.

She did not want to give away her position, using anymore of her power would turn her into a beacon to all who could detect her. This was something she wanted to avoid currently, not until she found out exactly where this energy came from and who the man who wielded it was.

Nothing.

She still sensed nothing.

Motionless aside from the slight rustle of her dress in the breeze. She let the energies begging for release inside of her dissipate and with them her features returned to normal. Once more settling into a youthful visage of a woman in her early twenties.

With a frustrated sigh she spun around on the bare sole of her right heel changing her direction towards the south, her dress fluttered silently as she began her return home.

"This requires further planning,"

The contemplative sigh was accompanied by the slender digits of her left hand as they gently massaged her forehead beside her temple. Her eyes rolled in their sockets, before staring towards the dusky sky as if the answers she pursued would soon be displayed amongst the stars.

"before I attempt to find my new servant."

The headache that lay ahead would be fierce.

Indeed, she wanted to be the first to find this new player.

However, in the case that he was already allied with one of the others.

Or worse the organization.

She would not take the risk of walking straight into a trap without further information or cause.

There were just too many variables.

This whole situation had far too much potential to go wrong.

For a new player with the kind of power to rival hers to abruptly appear in her claimed territory. Especially when their identity eluded her, while making such a commotion with that announcement of their existence.

Then for that person to cease to exist to her senses.

It screamed bait.

Someone was trying to lure her out. Attempting to use her territorial nature against her.

This was fine with her.

There were ways to learn who was moving the chess pieces of these lands. The people who moved about in shadow with their ears to the ground. She would have to be patient while spreading and solidifying her influence in the south. Establishing her will within its occupants through fear would work, yet she knew of other ways to loosen tongues and unseal lips.

These ways would be most effective, seeing as how a man was her quarry.

Her eyes narrowed as a seductive pout appeared. Placing her hands over the toned abdomen laying naked below her dress she slowly raked them up to cup her full bosoms.

Men were boastful creatures.

Her prey would eventually come looking for her.

Then when she found who she sought, it would be as it was meant to be.

He would be hers.

Willing or not.

* * *

He was not sure if he appreciated having the top of his head being used as a seat cushion. His upwards gaze peered through his shaggy overgrown bangs and was met with the end of a black snout. Naruto rolled his eyes, leave it to Kurama to finally figure out how good he had had it when he did not need to walk from place to place. Sure, being trapped inside of the seal that had once contained the nine tailed fox was a living hell but so too at times was traveling.

_'__I swear to the sage if he tells me to pick up the pace one more time.'_

**"****Naruto."**

_'__Don't do it Kurama'_

**"****Why are you concealing your chakra now?"**

_'__Well that's a new one.'_

With a sudden shake of his head he dislodged the fox from his spot, and upon landing Kurama huffed indignantly.

**"****That was rude."**

Ignoring the verbal jab, Naruto walked over to the massive oak that stood not five feet from him to his left. His hands reached out to settle over a massive gash engraved into the ancient tree. Its position was nearly level with his head, and it ran deep into the heartwood.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about how savaged much of these forests are Kurama?"

The question was hypothetical, even now Kurama cared little for things that did not immediately concern him or put him in harm's way.

**"****I have seen no reason to hide our strength."**

_'__Still the ever prideful Bijuu I see.'_

"I just feel like the corrupted sources of energy seem to,"

With a shrug Naruto shook his head. Perhaps he was being too cautious, but they were in a world not their own.

Who knew what was out there?

He was not about to try and start a fight with this world's inhabitants immediately after his arrival.

"I guess the best way to say it is that it feels like they're sensing me as well when I attempt to sense them."

Not if he could help it at least.

Kurama raised a mysteriously human shape front paw to his chin as he sat up on his hind legs.

**"****I see. That does make sense in a way."**

With a nod of his head Kurama leaped back up onto his shoulder but refrained from retaking his position on top of Naruto's head. Wrapping three of his nine tails around Naruto's neck to maintain stability Kurama nodded thoughtfully once more.

**"****This worlds energy is so polluted with rage and despair that I am unable to pick up on that fact if it is indeed true."**

Stepping away from the once great tree, he resumed the timeless cycle of putting one foot in front of the other once more. Naruto thought upon the words Kurama spoke before mentioning the other thing that had caught his attention earlier when they had first arrived.

"In Sage Mode earlier when I spread out my senses across the world, it felt as if thousands, no millions of eyes suddenly began to stare into my very soul."

**"****Hmm. That is concerning."**

With the position Kurama was in Naruto was unable to see the contemplative gleam that entered the Bijuu's eyes following his final observation.

* * *

"Guts."

The voice was like shattering glass upon rock and steel. Unpleasant, inhuman, wrathful, and filled with an uncompromising hunger. It belonged to a monster confined to a humanoid form, covered in fur and organic armored plates, the figure was hunched over with its front limbs digging into the meal that lay cooling on the ground below them. The sickly sound of flesh being rend from bone and sinew, with a wet meaty twang as tendons snapped, the dry crackle like kindling over a fire as bones shattered.

"Guts. Slice them up, tear them open, rip their insides out and devour them while their still alive!"

Nearby was a dying fire, its final embers and coals already cooling. Not far from the fire near the tree line of the clearing, in a fool hardy attempt to camouflage it among the low hanging pine branches and tall grass, was a small towable wagon. Leaned against its right wheel was the still body of a woman, her neck had been slashed apart, the entire front of her homely attire complete with white apron was dyed with drying gore.

The current feast however was a dead man, torso already disemboweled. His death had been torturous, his visage frozen in a final desperate scream of rictus agony.

"Guts. I want more. Always hungry, thirsty, give them to me! All of your insides!"

It took no effort as the beast lifted the lifeless corpse over its head.

Then as a final act of defilement, the creature used the dead man's arms and legs as grips for its meaty fists that were controlling its macabre ascent. Muscles bulged and the arms pulled, the man's stomach stretched then a morbidly grotesque clamor ensued with a final declaration that echoed throughout the small clearing as the cadaver was torn in half. Entrails and blood rained down upon the beast in a horrifying imitation of rain.

"GUTS!"

* * *

**"****Naruto."**

Kurama had abandoned his perch ten or so minutes ago. Now the fox was bounding alongside him with a grace more spoken of with felines than the canine like body he possessed.

A pause interrupted their journey as the pair of unprotected feet and four paws against roughened dirt and moss on the path ceased in movement.

Throughout their journey through these new lands towards the nearest group of polluted life energy, the world had sung to him in a symphony of the damned.

As a sage he was in tune with nature in ways a normal mind could not comprehend.

Nature could speak, and it confided all its mysteries to Naruto.

The way the land smelled of blood, as if in a blanket of crimson tides, it had once flooded this world.

Many trees had trunk and branch flayed, their bark shredded, limbs torn off through sheer force or by steel.

This world thrived in death.

_'__Disgusting.'_

However, the thing that struck him as most peculiar at that very moment.

Was the silence, this forest should be brimming with life.

"Yeah what is it Buddy?"

Readjusting again the knot of vines he was using for a belt to hold his ancient sage cloak shut in the front, Naruto looked down with a sheepish grin at Kurama, who had circled around in front of him sitting down on his haunches.

The way the fox tilted his head made Naruto almost reach out to pet him.

He shot down the idea before his body attempted to follow through with the act.

It had been a very rough month when he had made such a mistake in the past.

**"****You need some damn clothes."**

A meaty thwack echoed throughout the forest, interrupting the quiet. With a roll of his eyes hidden behind his left palm, Naruto dragged the extremity down his face, accompanying the exaggerated response with a tired groan.

_'__You think for a guy who's always naked he'd not care.'_

**"****Consider for a moment the fact that if I want to look at you when I speak to you face to face."**

_'__Okay?'_

**"****It means I need to look up."**

_'… __Oh.'_

"Alright, I get the picture now."

Slightly embarrassed now, Naruto shook his hands wildly in front of him, accidently knocking his belt loose once again.

**"****I swear to Kami I will use them as a chew toy."**

"Heh, sorry about that Kurama."

**"****The first town we find, you WILL acquire som-"**

The words stopped as both their heads swiftly turned towards a disturbance, an eruption of that sickly polluted energy had come from not to far in the west of their location. The duo sent a series of questioning gazes and pointed looks towards one another at the same time speaking with their eyes.

A decision was made.

It was time to learn what these creatures they both sensed with the twisted sources of energy were.

* * *

They called these places pubs, to her it was nothing more than a den of debauchery.

The people around her smelled terrible, the liquor tasted atrocious, and for the past hour and a half she had forced herself to mingle with its patrons.

Her patience for this espionage was already wearing thin.

The hunger from earlier had also started to once again make itself known. She had still not eaten since her earlier opportunity had been spoiled. There had been no time after she had rushed home to her mansion located in the hills east of this town. Opting to begin her search as soon as possible she had torn through her dressers and closets, searching for the perfect dress to wear.

The sheen from the silken cloth she wore danced in the dim light of the bar. Dyed in her favorite color of orange, it was shorter than most, ending just below her knees. The top held a pair of lace straps, embroidered with blood red and gold while the deep v cut of the neckline exposed a generous helping of her breasts to the wandering eye. The entirety of the back from shoulder blade to should blade was left open, all the way down to her waistline and hugged every feminine curve of her body like a second skin. Soft brown leather boots that ended just above her ankles in a small fold covered her dainty feet, and above the smooth caramel skin of her calves begged to be touched.

Any move her body made transformed into an enticing dance in this ensemble.

She was seated on an uncomfortable wooden barstool. The likes of which filled her with disdain, even as she plastered a fake look of admiration on her face. She had found her first source of information, already plied the man with excess drink, it would not do to scare him away before she got him home.

"Pretty lil thang ain't you?"

A large falchion hung from his belt, with a wicked serrated edge. He smelled of grime and refuse, the appalling scent burned her sensitive nose. His armor even smelled of rust and mold, the dirty leather tunic and scuffed armored spaulders he wore looked as if they were two sizes too large for him.

"Oh, and what do you do with,"

She forced another smile at the man, earlier he had proclaimed loudly to the entire bar that he was a renowned adventurer and warrior.

"pretty lil thangs like me?"

The husky timbre of her whisper sent visible shivers across the man's body.

She was inclined to disagree with the facts and stories he had spewed to earn her favor. For if they were so famous, even in such an inebriated state, he should have noticed something was off about this entire situation.

Although he was a liar and most likely a cheat, she had pegged him for being a local bandit. Of all the people in her kingdom, bandits tended to acquire the rumors and hearsay early. Often because their lives depended upon knowing it first.

Banking on that, she had chosen him as her first target the second he had walked through the dingy wooden door that was the entrance.

If nothing less, he would sate her hunger.

She leaned forward placing her arms below her breast and in the same movement subtlety pushed them up, the gentle swelling of their flesh caused the mans Adams apple to bob rapidly in place as he choked down his latest brew. His eyes never leaving her chest area, the hunger in them was all the signal she needed to go in for the kill.

With a small sputter the man tried to regain any semblance of normality. As if her flirtation was something that he was extremely accustomed to.

He most certainly was not.

That what he must have thought was a roguish grin he was sending her was appalling.

"Well, lass I'd be more than happy to show yo-"

"Shh."

The movement of her hand went unseen by glossy eyes filled with yearning, the only thing they noticed was the slim finger that now pressed and gently massaged the lips they had silenced.

Leaning over in her seat she pressed her body against his own, molding her form to his ensuring that her breasts that he had been so focused on encircled his right arm between the mounds. Half lidded doe eyes of sparkling emerald stared into the mans dirty brown, lighting a fire within. Pouty crimson colored lips and pearly white teeth parted as her wetted tongue played over them.

"I have a home not far from here,"

The huskily whispered words in the unwitting man's ear made him go stiff backed, she smirked as she pulled away a allowed alluring smile grace her features. She intentionally let her eyes wander and pause over his leather clad crotch in full view, causing the man to lose any remnants of self-control.

"H-How far?"

Her eyes lit up with glee.

Success!

"Merely twenty minutes by foot, or ten by horse."

A lie, but the man was so lust addled and inebriated he would not realize the deception until it was too late.

The look of consideration that crossed his face survived less than a second.

She could do as she pleased once she had him alone.

Already too far gone in fantasizing about his latest soon to be conquest. The man missed the devilish smile that appeared as she quietly followed him out of the pub and into the moon lit night.

This was not the smile of a temptress.

It was the savage grin of an alpha predator who had found her latest meal.

The man turned around having realized that he had no idea which direction their destination lay. A brief respite from the haze of toxins and desire, and a momentary spark of clarity burst forth as he asked her a final question as she passed by him and took the lead in their journey towards her home.

"Ya know, you nevar did tell me your name."

She considered it briefly, the pros and cons of telling him the truth.

A moment of silence passed as the two walked deeper and deeper into the woods along the forest that lay below the cliffs that held her home. Then deciding that since as he was not going to have an opportunity to share it with anybody else, he may be blessed with such knowledge.

"Luciela."

* * *

_"__You're mad Dobe,"_

_'__Saw that one coming.'_

_The thought drew a reminiscent smile over his lips._

_Then a familiar vulpine grin._

_"__C'mon Sasuke, it'll be just like old times! At least let me entertain my drunken fantasies for a moment!"_

_Naruto filled both now empty glasses with the latest bottle to endure the purge, this made it eighteen. He slid the nearly overflowing cup towards his now accomplice. Grabbing his own cup, he extended his glass, already knowing by the look in Sasuke's eyes of what would happen next._

_A pair of voices echoed back towards one another over the subtle clink of glasses toasting._

_"__Kanpai, heiwa e!"_

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

**A.N. I'll be honest and say I wasn't planning to have this up so soon. But with my storyboarding and worldbuilding already done. Not much else to do but keep writing.**

**With how everything looks on paper I will go ahead and say this. I expect this story to reach around 130k to 150k words, with chapters being roughly 3500 words long. I already have how the story will progress and a series of arcs. So if that's what you're curious about well now you know.**

**I realized after posting the prologue that I forgot to add some translations for the Japanese in the story. They may not be 100 percent accurate seeing as I used Google translate. But here you go.**

**Shīru kassei-ka: Mugen no Sora – Seal Activation: Endless Sky**

**Kanpai, heiwa e! – Cheers, to peace!**

**See you all next chapter.**


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